News Archives - 2005

August 26, 2005

Former
Augsburg College President Oscar Anderson dies at 89

Oscar
Anderson pictured speaking at Homecoming during his tenure as President

Oscar
Anderson, one of the nation’s pre-eminent Lutheran preachers and president
of Augsburg College from 1963-80, died Thursday, Aug. 25, 2005 at North Memorial
Hospital in Minneapolis following injuries suffered from a recent fall. Anderson
was 89.

The 8th president of
Augsburg, Anderson was credited with defining Augsburg’s role as an
urban college, while not losing its roots as both a liberal arts institution
and a college of the church.

"My goal for Augsburg
College was to make it an urban college, not only one recognized within the
urban setting, but one utilizing the resources of a metropolitan setting,”
he said in 1993 when the college dedicated Oscar Anderson residence hall in
his name. “I think we got into the bloodstream of the city."

Former president Charles
Anderson, who succeeded Oscar, said Oscar was instrumental, in terms of attitude,
in bringing the college together with the city. “We always were here
geographically,” Charles Anderson said, “but our institution moved
considerably closer with the city in Oscar’s tenure. It was true then,
and it remains so today.”

Born April 19, 1916 in
Minneapolis, Oscar Anderson was educated at Minnehaha Academy and Augsburg
before eventually receiving his bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College
in 1938. He graduated from Luther Theological Seminary in 1942; his first
pastorate was at Lake Harriet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, from 1942 to
1948. For the next six years he was the executive director of the International
Young People’s Luther League of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. He
went on to complete graduate study at Union Seminary in New York, an experience
that heightened his awareness of contemporary trends in theological scholarship.

From the mid-1950s until
his appointment as president at Augsburg, he served as senior pastor at Trinity
Lutheran Church in Moorhead, Minn., where he established close ties with the
academic community – both at Concordia College and Moorhead State.

After coming to Augsburg,
Anderson presided over a tremendous period of growth and evolution at the
college. At least five new buildings, including the college’s two tower
residence halls, its student center, a new music building, and an ice arena,
were built during his presidency.

A nationally known preacher,
Anderson received many honors, including the Knight's Cross First Class of
the Order of St. Olav from the Government ofNorway; the Paul Harris Fellow
from Rotary International: the Distinguished Alumni Citation from both Augsburg
and St. Olaf College; and the Distinguished Service Award from the City of
Minneapolis.

“Oscar Anderson
was president of the college during two crucial decades and supervised our
transition from a college in the city that wished it were in the country to
a college fully engaged with the city that had grown up around it,”
noted William Frame, the current Augsburg president.

“As perhaps the
best pulpit preacher of his time, Oscar employed a razor sharp and telling
wit to guide the college and its alumni through this crucial transition. He
had returned to the college frequently since his retirement and invariably
brought that wit and powerful rhetoric with him.

“In fact, he had
RSVP’d for an ice cream social at Augsburg House (the President’s
residence) – which he had visited frequently – but his untimely
fall prevented his attendance. We were sorry to miss him then, and I know
we will all regret his absence in the days and years ahead.”

Anderson is survived
by his children, Donna Hoekstra (Hal), Crystal Lake, Ill.; Randall Anderson,
Los Angeles, Calif.; Sheldon Anderson (Kristie), Minneapolis, Minn.; Gracia
Lindberg (Brad) Coon Rapids, Minn. He was preceded in death by his wife Leola.
A memorial service is planned for 4 p.m. at the College’s Hoversten
Chapel on Thursday, Sept. 1. Memorial gifts are preferred to the Access to
Excellence Campaign or the Leola G. Anderson Scholarship, both at Augsburg
College in Minneapolis.